Our homes are being beautified by piles of poop
Yep you guessed it our homes and yards are being beautified by piles of bio-degradable garbage and manure. In todays world most people would say that's great we are recycling and reducing our waste and using organic fertilizer. But is this really enviromentally friendly all the time. If you live out in farming country you know the dangers of what speading manure can have on the aquafier and your drinking water. As rural areas get closer to the farms and our supply of clean water gets more and more stressed out, I wonder what is going to give first.
This problem is happening right across the US and is particular to spreading liquid manure in the winter when the fields are frozen. According to Land and Water Resources Department Director Kevin Connors said an outright ban on spreading liquid manure in winter would benefit area waterways but could pose a significant challenge. (reported by Bill Novak The Capital Times) In canada most farming communities have had a ban on spreading manure when the ground is frozen for years. The problem with this is surface water runs-off into streams, ditches and now because of the close proximity to neighborhoods storm drains. I just wonder if this is being compounded by people using manure on their lawns and gardens. I was driving through a neighborhood the other day and saw that someone had done this and there was feathers sticking through the grass. The lawn was nice and green though.
I feel the best way to be enviromentally resposible is to make your own fertilizer by utilizing a composting method which has worked for me and my flower beds. This method also reduces the amount of garbage by at least 25%. It reduced my garbage bags down from three per week to two, not a bad deal for everyone. There is only one major taboo when using a composting method, never, ever put meat products in the composter, unless you like the company of rats.
There are only three rules when you are backyard composting;
Aeration, moisture and heat these elements combine in a bin or other container to produce the composting material.
Aeration can simply be done by turning over the center of the pile once a month, for moisture I just leave the lid off once a week if it is raining or lput the garden hose in it if in a dry spell, add a your lawn clippings once a week and combined it will produce the heat you need. Every month you can take the composted material from the bottom and spread it on your flower beds or lawn to build up different areas or bald patches to re-seed.
Most communities sell manufactured composters at a very reasonable price if you don't own one.
Take this to the next level for camp grounds and cottages
A composting toilet breaks down waste into an inoffensive soil using aerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria break down waste quickly and only give off carbon dioxide, water, and beneficial enzymes in this process. However, to give them a good environment in which to do their work, you need to provide them with the following:
Without lots of oxygen, aerobic bacteria just goes dormant and don’t do anything, then anaerobic bacteria takes over. Anaerobic bacteria produces the foul-smelling gasses that we think of when we generally think of human waste, and their breakdown process is much slower.
Without moisture, there is no vehicle by which the bacteria can be transported through the compost pile. If it is too dry, a number of other things will start to happen as well. Toilet paper won’t break down quickly and easily, and the compost will start to harden. Moisture is generally added to the compost naturally through urination. Water may need to be added from time to time to ensure that moisture levels are between 40% and 60%.
This actually covers not just one item that you need, but several. A good bulking mix will be porous, which means that lots of oxygen will be provided to the pile just by virtue of a loose matrix in the bulk itself. Many composting toilet manufacturers use wood shavings in order to ensure porosity. Another often necessary ingredient is peat moss, because it holds water (necessary in dry toilet systems) and provides a very rich source of carbon. A good carbon/nitrogen ratio is essential to maintain in a composting toilet, because without the carbon that you add through the bulking material, the pile will generally be too nitrogen-rich and the composting action will slow drastically.
composting
